Chapter 4

Present

The sound of glass smashing woke Jonathan up. Instantly he was alert, he reached under the bed for his baseball bat, if there was someone in his house, they would not want to be here too long he told himself.

He listened again but could not hear anything, like a panther stalking its prey; Jonathan made his way to the stairs. There were no sounds, he was on high alert. Adrenalin was pumping through his veins; he was ready to attack.

Slowly he made his way down the stairs. He caught the sight of a shadow in the kitchen. The bastard has come in the patio doors. Anger fuelled him, the invasion to his property. No longer cautious he ran down the last few stairs and saw the figure quickly disappear through the broken glass door.

As Jonathan drew closer, he witnessed a small, lithe figure make a jump over the six-foot wall. “You fucker don’t you ever try coming back again. I’ll kill you! Do you hear me?” He shouted out.

He looked at the shattered glass on the kitchen floor, his grip tight on the baseball bat. Confident there had only been one of them; he made his way into the lounge. Everything seemed in order, there was nothing missing or even disturbed.  Probably some junkie looking for quick cash. He told himself.

Anger cursed through his veins. It was four-thirty in the morning. He had a few hours to get this sorted and be at his office. He considered calling the police and reporting an intruder, but had nothing to tell them. He knew they would not be able to do anything and there was a very slim chance they would even catch the intruder. Nothing had been taken, the closer he looked he realised that they had not even opened any drawers looking for money.

Jonathan flicked on the switch to flood the back garden for peace of mind. He needed to board the door up.

On the other side of the wall, the person was breathing heavily. The waiting for him to come down to catch a glimpse was terrifying yet exhilarating. Not something, the person wanted to repeat again soon. They waited silently to hear if he would actually come closer to the wall, or even to chase. A thread of disappointment ran through the person’s mind…they had been ready for it, almost wanting the chase to begin. Knowing, however, that it was still too early for the main play.

They could hear hammering and knew the man inside had started to board up the door. They had come to do what they had set out to do. There would be another time for more. He didn’t know how much his life was going to change. Satisfied, the person’s breathing returned to normal. Hood up and head down, they made their way along the tree lined suburban street. There were no lights on in the houses. Aside from the street lighting, it was dark and quiet.